Ghee roasted banana nendran porridge for babies 1-2 years old/ A healthy weight gain food

Ghee roasted sweet banana nendran porridge for babies 1-2 years old/ A healthy weight gain food

Ghee roasted banana nendran porridge for babies 1-2 years old/ A healthy weight gain food

Why should you include ghee and nendran banana in toddler's diet?

Benefits of banana (Nendran)

• High in fiber content and prevents constipation among babies
• Helps to ease digestion
• Contains essential vitamins and minerals and helps in optimum physical growth and development for the baby
• Iron content in banana stimulates blood production.

Benefits of ghee

• Rich in fat-soluble vitamins, especially vitamin A, which is essential for Calcium absorption to enhance the bone growth
• Strengthens the immune system
• Maintain healthy heart
• Prevents gastrointestinal problems
• Provides high energy level
• Keeps eyes and skin healthy

Preparation of articles

Articles needed are:

1. Cooking pan-1
2. Wooden spoon-1
3. Feeding bowl-1 
4. Feeding spoon-1 
5. Mixer grinder jar-1 (Only for baby)
6. Scrubber-1 

• Keep all articles separately for the baby and do not use for other purposes. (Rationale- To prevent bacterial contamination)

• Mixer grinder jar is the best source of bacterial growth, so that mother should clean it well. Take the white paper, dish wash solution and 50 ml of water in the grinder, grind it for 1 minute and wash it very well (do it weekly) (Rationale- To remove food stain and dirt). Then, pour boiling water and cover it with lid for ten minutes (do it early morning every day) (Rationale- To kill bacteria completely). And keep it dry.

Preparation of porridge

1. Sliced banana- 1 no.
2. Ghee- 1 Tsp
3. Grated jaggery/Brown sugar- 2 Tsp
4. Boiled water- as needed

Method:

Wash hands with soap and water.
Wash cooking pan and spoon very well and keep it on the medium flame. Then add ghee and grated jaggery or brown sugar, mix it well.  Add banana and roast it nicely. Allow it to cool.
In a cleaned mixer jar, add the cooked items and grind it as a thick paste by adding lukewarm water(already boiled) slowly. Transfer to cleaned feeding bowl.

(I prefer grind foods during this age group. Because, even if you give mashed foods, it will cause indigestion and the nutrients are not well absorbed by the stomach. Thus, it will result in a lack of appetite and poor weight gain for the baby. Moreover, you can see the undigested food materials in the feces of the baby. So, for proper absorption of nutrients, ease digestion and healthy weight gain, please give grind foods as the main course and other mashed food items can be given as supplementary. You can continue the process until the complete teeth development of the baby to chew the foods properly.)

Preferred feeding time: 1-2pm

The position of the baby:
Wash hands with soap and water.

Best position is- Make mother sit on a floor with supported back and stretched legs. Keep the baby on your legs and head of the baby facing towards your legs. So that you can get a control on face and arms of the baby. Keep the head of the baby slightly elevated.

OR

Allow the baby to engage in activities and give a spoon of food and allow ample time for the kid to swallow it. If the kid does not open the mouth, give a mild pressure on one side of the cheek and give food. You can feed the full amount of food by keeping the baby engaged with toys. Avoid the third person with you otherwise, you and baby might be distracted.

OR

Allow the baby to engage in activities. You stand behind the baby. Then, you can have control on his/her head and hands to avoid spilling of the food and you can feed the major portion of the food in the spoon by keeping in the posterior part of the tongue of the baby. This technique is possible only when you stand behind the baby.  

Feeding issues: Spitting the food or not swallowing the food by the baby
In this case, give food about one-fourth of the spoon and waiting for the baby to swallow it. Don't feed the baby until it is swallowed, or else the baby will collect the food in the mouth and finally the baby spits the food out.

To be noted: While feeding the baby, make sure that food should not spill over the nose and eyes. If it is spilled on the nose, gently wipe the food with a towel. If it is spilled on eyes, immediately wash the eyes until the baby is comfortable.

Aftercare of the baby: Keep the baby in the same position for at least 10 minutes in order to prevent projectile vomiting. Wash the face with clean water and dry with a towel.
If the baby vomits, stop giving the food and discard the entire food. When the kid gets hungry next time, you prefer to give mashed fresh banana, as it is rich in fiber, cools the stomach and eases the digestion process.

Aftercare of the articles: After feeding, immediately wash the articles with the soapy solution and rinse it very well and, keep it for dry till the next feeding to prevent bacterial growth.

To be noted: 

• Watch the stools of the baby for any color change and you can see the level of digestion of food. 
• Do not compromise on cleaning and hygiene of the food, otherwise, you have to see the little one is suffering from infections.
• Continue breastfeeding along with solid foods (as you wish) till 2 years of age.

Reliability of the information 

"We live in the midst of so many answers, suggestions, and options to one question itself. During my motherhood period, I found very difficult to opt the best do's for my baby, despite being a professional nurse researcher. After a lot of readings, observations, brainstorming discussions with my colleagues who are nursing experts, health professionals, and experienced mothers, and I have opted the best things for my baby, implemented and succeeded to have a happy motherhood period without a single episode of fever, cold or diarrhea for the baby and sleepless night too. And the baby demonstrates a progressive weight gain +/- 400gm monthly. In spite of committing trials and errors during your parenting time, you can read, understand and implement it. If you have any queries or suggestions, a great welcome to my blog."

                                                                                  Mrs.Ponnambily Jobin

                                                                                  (Public health nurse researcher)